Simply put, the word, "Nīla" (pronounced neela; நீலா; नीला; നീല), means the colour blue. For us, however, it is so much more than that. We believe that Nīla conveys an emotion, a state of mind even. A moment of peace, a pause, an escape from the chaos of the everyday.

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Born during the pandemic, Nīla is a quest for tranquility. For the founders of the brand, Pritika and Shwetha, the ocean was an important source of inspiration in this quest. Specifically, they were inspired by the sense of calm and reverie that comes from being out at sea. These sensibilities inform the design philosophy behind the brand. Thus, the blue of the sea gives us our name, Nīla.

Yes, Nīla is a completely vegan brand. No animal products were used in creating our products.

We, at Nīla, aim to produce products that are completely sustainable and eco-friendly. As we pride ourselves on being transparent, however, we must also mention the following realities that impact how sustainable our products actually are.

1. The main material used in our products is cork. Manufactured in Portugal, cork fabrics are vegan, eco-friendly and usually carbon negative (as cork generally consumes more CO2 than the emissions produced during the manufacturing process). However, the eco-friendliness of the final product is impacted by the addition of other materials which may not be as sustainable as cork itself.

2. Though our key raw material is sustainable in itself, factors like the emissions produced during transport must also be considered while evaluating sustainability. However, these emissions are unavoidable as cork is largely produced in the Mediterranean region and cannot be sourced locally.

3. We generally use cotton or recycled polyester as lining in our products. However, every small part of our products may not be completely eco-friendly. In such cases, we are still looking for more efficient and eco-friendly alternatives.

While these factors are to be considered while evaluating the impact of our products, it must also be mentioned that despite minor shortcomings, our products are still far less harmful than animal or synthetic leather products available in the market today. Additionally, we also seek to keep improving our products to meet the needs of our consumers and the planet itself, and to this end, we remain open to feedback and suggestions.

Our products are manufactured using cork fabrics as the key raw materials. Cork is our material of choice due to its unique characteristics, especially in relation to sustainability.

However, it is not possible to source cork from India at present as cork oak trees suitable for cork production are not grown here. Such trees are primarily cultivated in the western Mediterranean region. We source our cork from our suppliers in Portugal who harvest cork responsibly from the Portuguese Montado (a delicate and protected cork oak forest ecosystem) once in every 9 years.